What is a correlate?
A phenomenon that accompanies another phenomenon and is related in some way to it
*correlation doesn’t equal causation - a change in a correlate of crime may not necessarily lead to a change in crime
2014-15: Males made up ___% of defendants in canada’s adult criminal court
80%
____% of those accused of homicide in 2016 were male
____% of homicide victims are males
Out of the 500 persons held in 2013 under the “dangerous offender” law, how many women were there?
86%
75%
One woman
Who are the most common victims of female acts of violence?
People the female knows - spouse, acquaintance or family member
What was Heimer and De Coster’s (1999) theory on what causes the gender gap in violent crime
The gender gap in violent crime is the result of structural positions and cultural processes
- violent delinquency is a function of social learning of violent definitions by males and females
–> gender differences: boys learn more violent definitions and have more experience with violence
–> girls accept traditional gender definitions
What are Daly’s (1992) five pathways for women’s involvement in crime?
Harmed & harming women
- have endured abuse and may have lost loved ones when they were young - seen as out of control - resort to substance abuse
Battered women
- abusive partner
Street women
- serious levels of abuse - street involvement (prostitution, drug selling, theft) - tend to have longer criminal histories
Drug-connected women
- have engaged in illicit drugs use and sale - maybe because of relationships with people who were involved in drugs - not necessarily addicts
Other women
- no history of unfavourable family life, no abuse, not street-entrenched - engaged in crime for economic gain
How are social structures (esp. in the home) embedded in gender differences in criminal behaviour?
What is the power control theory?
Males and females are held to widely divergent standards and expectations in what constitutes appropriate behaviour
- home is the main site of acculturation and gender contestation where boys and girls learn behaviours
- PWR control theory: girls are subjected to greater control than their male siblings in the same household
- this may explain lower crime rates among women
- but, as this control is lessening, girls are expected to become more delinquent
What is the role convergence hypothesis?
As the work roles of women become similar to those of men, so will their involvement in crime - not supported by research
Since there is not much research or evidence to support the role convergence hypothesis, what are some other explanations for the gender gap in criminal offences declining?
- may be due to changing police charging patterns against female offenders
- may be a reduction in male criminal offending
- feminization of poverty reflected in the increase in females committing minor property offences (shoplifting, credit card fraud, bad cheques)
What are the two strongest correlates of crime?
Age and gender
How is over-representation of minority groups in crime statistics influenced by location in canada?
Prairies: indigenous people are overrepresented
Toronto and Nova Scotia: African canadians are overrepresented
What are the two explanations of overrepresentation of minorities in the CJS
- Differential offending hypothesis - there is a difference between racial groups in terms of the incidence, level of seriousness, and persistence of offending patterns
- Differential treatment hypothesis - structural inequality in the administration of justice is responsible for overrepresentation
Indigenous adults make up 3% of the Canadian population, but ___% of male adults and ___% of female adults in federal corrections are Indigenous
28%
31%
Indigenous youths make up 3% of the Canadian population, but ___% of male youth and ___% of female youth in federal corrections are Indigenous
31%
44%
List some problems Indigenous people face in the Canadian CJS
- more likely to be denied bail
- more time is spent in pretrial detention
- more likely to be charged with multiple offences
- more likely to not have representation at court proceedings
- more than twice as likely to be incarcerated than non-indigenous offenders
- more likely to plead guilty because they are intimidated by the court
What is the Cultural Theory of the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the CJS? Why is this problematic?
Background : cultural theories examine the traits, characteristics, or way of life of an identifiable group to explain the involvement of members of that group in the CJS - analyze the development of a subculture (or counterculture) that runs contrary to the dominant culture
- indigenous cultures are inherently violent, or they are different from the dominant Euro-Canadian culture in content and/or manner of expression
–> this predisposes them to conflict with the law
Problematic because:
- presuppose a monolithic, static Indigenous culture
- assumer there is a particular kind of behaviour that constitutes ‘Indigneous behaviour’
- treat Indigenous culture as abnormal
What is the colonial model within structural theories for the overrepresentation of indigenous people in the CJS
- takes a socio-psychological perspective
- Focuses on the intersection of structural oppression, alienation and three adaptive forms of behaviour—assimilation, crime or deviance, and protest
- colonialization has had devastating psychological and social consequences
- the resulting alienation may manifest itself in crime and a high rate of violence within First Nations
- can lead to self-hate which can project itself onto the group –> “horizontal violence” = violent acts by a person within his or her social class
- This theory demonstrates that colonialism has consequences for human psyche and actions, such as criminal behaviour. It also indicates that historical context matters when we examine criminal statistics
What is the Historic Trauma Transmission Model within structural theories for the overrepresentation of indigenous people in the CJS
- focus is on how historic trauma manifests itself socially and psychologically
- acculturation (and loss of the social self) produces “learned helplessness” (fatalism) –> this means that members of a group believe that no action on their part can alter the course of their lives
- this leads to self-blame, passivity, hostile behaviours, and a decreased sense of self, which manifests itself in suicide, drug addiction, violence, and criminal behaviour
Describe Critical Race Theory within structural theories for the overrepresentation of indigenous people in the CJS
- Adopts a social constructionist approach to race, the law, and justice → crime is what a society defines it to be and is not an objective fact
Assumptions:
- the CJS reflects a dominant group’s norms and values and favours that group
- racism in the CJS is not an aberration; it is “normal”
- groups that are not well situated to make, enforce, and interpret laws often bear the brunt of the criminal justice system
From these assumptions:
- indigenous people are overrepresented in the CJS because of their exclusion from mainstream society and because of overpolicing and harsh sentences
- racialization is inherent in the CJS
Why do women receive more lenient treatment in the courts? (generally shorter sentences than male counterparts)
- they commit less serious crimes
- female offenders’ responsibility for young children
Females are ___x as likely as males to be killed by their spouse
2x
For disadvantaged women, what is the primary factor that reduces drug use and delinquent behaviour?
Motherhood
Examples of the earliest explanations for gender differences in crime
What do criminologists now know about it
- pathological anomalies?
- sexualization of female offenders?
Now criminologists have shown that explanations for gender differences in criminal behaviour are embedded in social structure, particularly in patriarchal traditions and the attendant gender roles
Despite the increase in the number of women in corporate positions, women are not as engaged in corporate crime as men – what are some trends in how women commit corporate crime compared to men?
- Women more likely to act on their own and more likely to be “little fishes”
- Women twice as likely as men to cite financial need for their families as the main motivation for their white-collar crime
- Women involved in petty corporate crime ; men involved in both petty and major corporate crime
